Alumnus gives $10M to his law school, upping total for the year to $25M

A Northwestern University law graduate and his wife are making a $10 million unrestricted gift to his law school alma mater, the school announced Tuesday.

But that isn’t the only time this year J. Landis “Lanny” Martin and his wife, Sharon have anted up. In January, they pledged another $15 million to help the university finance a new $220 million athletic complex, Crain’s Chicago Business reports.

Martin, a former partner of Kirkland & Ellis who served on the law firm’s executive committee, earned his law degree at Northwestern in 1973 and is on the school’s board of trustees. He now operates Platte River Equity, a Denver-based investment firm.

“Gifts like this one go a long way towards enriching opportunities for our students, improving the already-high academic reputation of the law school, and undertaking innovations which will prepare our students to become leaders in the profession,” said law dean Daniel Rodriguez in a Northwestern press release. “We are thrilled about this unrestricted support of our law school and are committed to using these funds responsibly and ambitiously to bring Northwestern law to the highest level of excellence.”